Macra Welcome the Progress Made in New Entrants to Dairying
30 September 2009
Macra na Feirme’s national president, Michael Gowing has welcomed the progress made by the Department of Agriculture on the new entrants to dairying scheme. Minister Brendan Smith has just announced that 67 young farmers will, this week, receive letters of confirmation of their allocation of 200,000 litres (44,000 gallons) of milk quota.
Mr. Gowing was also keen to emphasise that the demand for the scheme was proof that young farmers were keen and willing to invest in dairying. In all, 141 young farmers applied for quota under this scheme and 67 were deemed successful. Young farmers are more likely to take a longer term view and were basing their decisions upon the improved medium term prospects for the dairying sector in Ireland.
The next step will be to ensure that these new entrants are given the support and training that will help them become successful progressive dairy farmers. In particular Macra is proposing to organise a follow up workshop with Teagasc in Moorepark during the Autumn to set out the next steps for the successful applicants. To be successful these new entrants will have to aim for the highest levels of technical and financial performance. This will mean embracing the best management, husbandry and technical advice available. These new entrants need to seek out and take on board this advice. It is anticipated that these young dairy farmers will become involved in Macra’s ‘3C’ discussion groups. These discussion groups are a joint initiative between Macra and Teagasc and are specifically targeted at young farmers.
